Team Kouskova secure maiden victory on the PIF Global Series at the Aramco Korea Championship in dramatic fashion.
Lee-Anne Pace drained a brilliant birdie putt on the 18th to edge out the nearest challengers by a single shot at at New Korea Country Club.
The winning team, captained by Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova, also featured Germany’s Patricia Isabel Schmidt – currently tied for fifth on the individual leaderboard – and American Brianna Navarrosa, who was a late addition after stepping in as a first reserve when Cassandra Alexander withdrew due to a knee injury.
It marked Kouskova’s first team win as a captain, and she was quick to praise the collective effort that led to victory.
"I am so proud of the team! think it was such a good performance from everyone, over both of the days. We just held up such a solid game. I'm very proud of how we managed ourselves. We just said on the first tee we want to stay in the moment and put not too much pressure on ourselves. We managed it very well.”
The event is organised by Golf Saudi and part of the newly announced PIF Global Series – a refreshed, five-event initiative on the Ladies European Tour (LET), with PIF as title partner – underscoring PIF’s long-term commitment to the growth of women’s sport.
Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa played a huge part in the team victory, making that crucial putt on 18 to clinch the win. With 11 Ladies European Tour wins under her belt, Pace is a tour veteran.
She said: “I'm so chuffed. Especially about that last putt. I still can't believe it. I had a 3-wood and was just thinking about a par. It's one of the toughest holes. I'm really proud of myself and really proud of my team. It is a brilliant team and we all got on so well. It was great fun. I feel really good about my game right now.
“It always come down to putting for me. That’s when I score really well. I feel very comfortable out there and I have my wife [Anne-Lise Caudal] on the bag. She helps me quite a lot. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but I’ll take it the same way.”
Brianna Navarrosa received a last-minute call-up to the team and made a valuable contribution, bouncing back from a challenging opening round of 79 (+7) with an impressive one-under-par performance today.
She said: "It's been a crazy last week-and-a-half. I remember waking up to a text at 5am last week saying: 'Hey, you might be in Korea.' I booked all my stuff and now I'm here and won the Team event. It's the best. I'm super happy to be here. I put up a good fight myself after a tough day yesterday. I played horribly yesterday and today I put up a fight and was able to sink some birdies and push towards the end.”
